ALL TOO WELL || druig x reader

chapter two: present day

You spent the better half of 5,000 years trying to forget they existed. Some days were better than others. Some days you were haunted by all of their stares, and by the way Ajak so suddenly said you may all leave.

You all went your separate ways, experiencing human life as if you were one of them, creating lives for yourselves while wondering where your Eternal counterparts were on the Earth.

You didn't deny that it was rough sometimes, but after so long on your own, you knew you'd changed. You'd been forced to, moving away from the nature of your power to something detached and cold. You'd realised it was because of Druig—he'd taken advantage of your softness. With one flash of his golden eyes, he'd split everyone up.

To humans, you looked to be mid-twenties. Young, but not too young. Old, but not ancient. Maybe it was a good age, even though you knew you'd never be able to grow old with those you met. It came with challenges; you tended to move every five to ten years, not wanting anyone to know of your origin. In a world run by superheroes, you didn't feel connected to them in the slightest.

London was cold in November, but you'd grown to like it. Breath circled you as you walked from your flat to the pub where you worked. You kicked in the door and pulled off your coat and scarf, hanging them up on the pegs by the bar.

"You're late!" your manager yelled from the cellar.

"Put it on my tab!" you yelled back, tying your hair up quickly and taking your usual spot behind the bar. This was your existence—pouring pints for Londoners, running food, mopping floors. You didn't mind it for one reason; it was so different to what you used to do, it didn't remind you of them in the slightest.

A few hours into your shift, Heidi came into the pub. If Eternals could have best friends, Heidi was yours. "Why weren't you answering your phone last night?" she said, pulling up a stool and sitting opposite you at the bar. You poured her a pint without asking.

"It ran out of battery," you said, sliding her the glass.

"You know you're supposed to charge it, right?"

"I think I lost the... um," you clicked your fingers, trying to remember the word for the part that went into a wall socket. "The thingy part—the one with the three sticking out bits,"

Heidi looked at you like you were an idiot. "The plug?" you slapped the bar top.

"Yes! The plug part," Heidi burst into laughter at you struggling.

"I swear you're an eighty-year-old woman in disguise," she chuckled out.

"Maybe I am," you said, smiling playfully. Little did she know you were closer to 8,000 years old, instead.

"When do you get off?" she asked, gulping down two healthy mouthfuls of her beer.

"An hour, maybe less, but Jack's been pestering me for overtime," you said, and both of you looked over to Jack at a table, sharing a pint with locals. For a manager, he did fuck all. You turned back to Heidi, widening your eyes in annoyance.

"There's a birthday celebration for one of the guys at the museum today," Heidi said, and immediately you recoiled. She rose from her stool slowly. "Hey, come on now—,"

"You know how I feel about the museum lot," you said, flashing back to the time you'd first met some of Heidi's colleagues a few years back. It had got messy.

"That was ages ago—,"

"Not ages, Heidi. Not ages at all," you chuckled. Suddenly, Heidi stuck out her hand and grabbed yours. She looked up at you with her brown puppy dog eyes, pouting her lip like a trained professional. You frowned at her face, but your heart was already giving in.